Jimi Agbaje begs Fayose for support to become PDP national chairman

The Lagos governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the last 2015 election, Jimi Agbaje, on Wednesday visited the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, in pursuit of his ambition to become the national chairman of the party.

According to a statement by Mr. Fayose’s Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, Mr. Agbaje met Mr. Fayose in Lagos on Wednesday and informed him of his intention to contest the position.

“As the only PDP governor from the South-west, I have come to formally inform Your Excellency that I will be seeking election as the National Chairman of our great party, the PDP,” the statement quoted Mr. Agbaje as saying.

“I am of the opinion that it will be inappropriate for you to get to know about my aspiration in the media, hence, my decision to come here and tell you formally.”

He said he was the best man for the job, arguing that “if not for what happened at the August last year’s convention, I would have clinched the chairmanship position then and I am confident that I will emerge as the chairman this time around.”

Mr. Agbaje at the meeting with Mr. Fayose, promised to attend the next meeting with other aspirants from the South-west, adding that he was not desperate about his aspiration.

Mr. Fayose had earlier informed the aspirant that he would prefer that all the aspirants from the zone agree to present a single candidate for the position.

“It won’t be in the collective interest of the South-west zone to present six aspirants at the convention as we presently have,” the governor said.

“Chairmanship aspirants from the South-west must come together and allow one person to fly the flag. It will be like crashing before take-off if we take six aspirants to the convention.”

Mr. Fayose urged Mr. Agbaje to pursue his aspiration with decorum and make sure that the PDP and Nigeria remained his focus instead of personal interests.

“We held a meeting with other chairmanship aspirants on Monday, and it is expected that a follow up meeting will be held very soon,” Mr. Fayose said.

“I urge you to attend the meeting so that we can forge a common front together. This is because the South-west zone cannot go to the convention with this large number of aspirants as we now have and expect to win.

“Most importantly, as the only PDP governor in the South-west, I cannot be going round with all of you (aspirants) to solicit for support.”

Source: Premium Times